Greycliff's heroine

The Greycliff Chronicles starts with the first of which I hope, will be a series. The working title is called "On the Trail of Yesterday's Rose".

Gaelynn Blackwood is the heroine of the story. She was born in Vallejo, California, the youngest of five siblings to Reggie and Amelia Blackwood. Gaelynn's a loner, with no real friends. As long as any of her family can remember, Gaelynn has been convinced she was born in the wrong time. Of course, to the Blackwood family, the youngest child only has that idea in her head from surrounding herself with medieval books and movies.

As Gaelynn, or Gael to her brothers and sister, reaches the age of sixteen when the book begins, she is 100% convinced she can not only go back in time to the medieval age, but she will become a knight. Her brother Christopher thinks she is crazy. Gaelynn does join a SCA Guild, where she starts her squire training. She also falls in love with the 'leader' of the group, Ramsey Cooper.

The Knight of the Red Hawks accept the teenager, and she opens her heart to the group. She makes a few friends along the way. Gaelynn even finds her fist love from within the Red Hawks. Gaelynn's mother warns her daughter not to expect people to change on her behalf.

Gaelynn does find her way back, as she swore to her family, but the place she ends up is no where she expected. Thaelia's World has two moons, the men are true chauvanists, and woman are supposed to be barefoot & pregnant. In a unfamiliar land she quickly runs into trouble. The countries, people, and culture, and histories are different from what she studied. Most men resent women who try to break out of their traditional molds.

Gaelynn has difficulty adjusting from the freedom of a modern world to the structued one she finds herself in. During the journey with a party of knights traveling from the desert land of Livanya to the lush country of Greycliff, Gaelynn struggles to keep her identity, while assimilating to her new home. In out of her head, she forgets what she knows. Gaelynn defies orders, ultimately causing strife and dissention among the group.

During the journey, a near tragedy opens her eyes. Her guardian, Sir Braeden du Faucione, treats her as if she were one of the guys as she asks. This results in actual punishments. A second, more serious infraction, causes the death of her horse, and she is blamed for the injury of another knight. This time she refuses to take her licks, with bad results.

As the travels continue, Gaelynn must grow up. The selfish, spoiled child disappears. She and Ranulf take a step towards friendship after an attempted kidnapping in Agrulac. When she has to make a decision given to her by King Arken, that might alter her standing with Braeden or destroy his family for good, she agonizes over the choice. Again, Ranulf is there to be a rock for her to cry on. When Braeden's life is threatened, she must again make an instant decision, his life or hers. Gaelynn decides that Braeden's life is worth two of hers.

At the end, Gaelynn admits she wouldn't recognize the girl she was when she first stepped on the soil in Livanya.

Just out of fun, here is Gaelynn's pertinent facts:

birthday (modern and medieval)
Feb 02, 02-01-1990 ( 02-01-1159)
5'03
athletic build
brown hair
brown eyes
mother: Amelia Blackwood
father: Reginald Blackwood
siblings:
Frank (6 years older), Susan (5 years older), David (3 years older), Christopher (2 yers older)

an Aquarius
born in the Year of the Horse